CCT333H5S Winter 2010 Imagining the Audience in a Wired World Synopsis This course proposes that the design of technological artifacts is best informed by attention to the actions and requirements of the end-user and their surroundings. Students will learn various techniques of understanding user needs requirements and apply this knowledge to real world situations. By the end of this course, students will have worked in groups to analyze and propose design alternatives of a technological artifact of their choosing. Professors Prof. Michael Jones Office: J321 Email: michael.jones5@sheridanc.on.ca Phone: (905) 845-9430 x 5555 Office Hours: Monday 3-4pm , on request Prof. Elizabeth Littlejohn Office: S319 Email: elizabeth.littlejohn@sheridanc.on.ca Phone: (905) 845-9430 x 8798 Available during lab sessions (Mondays 6-9pm), and on request We are both readily accessible by email, and will attempt to answer any questions electronically as rapidly as possible. That noted, do try to give a 24-48 hour window for responses, especially over the weekend. Main Text Benyon, D., Turner, P. & Turner, S. (2005). Designing Interactive Systems: People, Activities, Context and Technologies. Harlow, UK: Pearson Educational Times/Locations Lecture: Monday 1:00-3:00pm , Sheridan J102 Labs: Monday 4:00-7:00pm, Sheridan J316 Unless otherwise noted, lectures focus on course material and will involve some discussion. It is expected that students will arrive prepared to discuss relevant course material for the class, including but not limited to the assigned readings for the class. Labs will be reserved for individual and/or group work on course assignments, particularl the design case study analysis. We encourage dialogue and provide one-on-one assistance on any conceptual or technical questions that are relevant to your projects as required. Assignment Structure Further details regarding assignment requirements will be released and discussed as the course progresses. 1. Personal Inspiration Narrative (Jan. 25 – 10%) Based on the personal narratives in Sherry Turkle’s Falling for Science (discussed in lecture and labs) write your own personal (2-3 page) story of your own technological “eureka” moment. This story should be a compelling personal story of when you discovered larger principles of design and technology issues. While it can be inspired by CCT courses, it shouldn’t be just a story of something learned in class, but rather something a bit more personal and profound than something you simply learned in class. 2. Activity Charts and Task Analysis (Feb. 8 - 10%) Based on the textbook concepts of activity charts and hierarchical task analysis, you will create an activity chart of a particular job, dissect one particularly problematic task using hierarchical task analysis, and create a new task analysis model of a revised task model that improves on the existing task. Given the requirements, you will need to have access to many specific details of the job – so it’s probably should be something you have done or presently do and can gain access to detailed internal information. Further information and support towards this task will be provided in lab. 3. Case Study Lab Reports – (ongoing, ending March 22 – 15%) In labs, we will examine and discuss a series of case studies relevant to user-centered design challenges. Cases will be selected from the online support material for Bill Moggridge’s text Designing Interactions (http://www.designinginteractions.com/) and other online sources. Each case study will be presented online and come with discussion questions for your consideration. Discussion question answers will be due on the course wiki the following week. 4. Feedback and Community Building (regular contributions based on deadlines, feedback due March 15, community building due March 29 - 10%) This course will be using Wikispaces to foster collaborative investigation on issues of relevance in this course. There are two components to this assignment: a) providing feedback and critique of the final group assignment (5%) There will be multiple opportunities to provide feedback, advice and guidance to your colleagues to facilitate iterative development on these assignments. Since feedback is obviously only worthwhile if provided in a timely manner, online feedback will be due a week before the final project presentations (March 23). Also included is community building and maintenance (5%). Wikis depend on continual effort by community writers to create a sustainable and active intellectual space. Our class Wiki is no exception, and this effort will be rewarded accordingly. This will conclude on the final day of classes in the spring term (Thursday April 1) but early and often editing is worth considerably more. . 5. Sustainable Technology Design Project– (completed March 22 -30%) The final deliverable of the course is a group project (3-4 people) involving analysis and redesign of a technological artifact related to issues of sustainability. There are many possible avenues of investigation – during lab, we will work with project groups to help formulate a viable project. The only requirement is that the artifact in question must involve an analysis of based on research on sustainability issues. There are three interim deadlines to structure progress in this assignment. a)Proposal and Ideation (March 1 – 10%) b)Scenarios and Requirements (Mar. 15 – 5%) c)Revised Design – Presentation and Documentation (Mar. 22 – 15%) 6. Final Test – (March 29 - 25%) There will be one term test in this course, held during the last lecture period. This test will cover all assigned readings and lab material, and will privilege application of course concepts vs. simple regurgitation of facts, dates, or authors. Specific content covered and question structures will be discussed later in the semester as part of exam review. Important Policy Notes Students should familiarize themselves with Senate Policy described in the UTM Calendar: http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/regcal/ Academic Honesty Students are expected to be informed about plagiarism and familiar with the Faculty Rules and Regulations, Code of Behavior on Academic Matters and Code of Student Conduct (see UTM Calendar), which state your rights, your duties and provide all the details on grading regulations. Academic honesty is a serious matter and will be treated accordingly. The UTM calendar summarizes UTM policy on p. 25. Violations of academic honesty include: • Using unauthorized aids on a test (e.g., “cheat sheets”) • Looking at someone else’s answers on a test • Plagiarism (representing or submitting someone else’s words or work as your own) • Making up sources or facts for an essay or report • Falsifying official documents or grades • Submitting the same essay or report in more than one course without permission • Impersonating another person at an exam or test, or having someone impersonate you How Not to Plagiarize by Margaret Procter is an excellent primer on what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. You are responsible for creating material that conforms to this level of citation, and thus are strongly encouraged to read it. Ignorance of these basic fundamentals is no excuse. http://www.utoronto.ca/ota/issues/plagsep.html Access to Learning The University accommodates students with disabilities who have registered with the AccessAbility Resource Centre and Sheridan College’s Disability Services centre. Please let us know in advance if you will require any accommodation on these grounds. (2009-2010 UTM Calendar Section 6.2 AccessAbility Resource Centre)." Due Dates and Lateness For both individual and group assignments, you must submit assignments on the specified due dates. Make sure you are aware of due dates. Computer glitches are not valid excuses for a late assignment – make sure you back up your work and save it to multiple locations (e.g., USB keychain drives, email copies to yourself and others, etc.) You may submit late work the following day before 4 p.m., but the assignment will receive a 5% late penalty in fairness to those who have completed their work on time. Work submitted later than the following day with no explanation will not be accepted unless accompanied by a valid University of Toronto Medical Certificate. The certificate is available at: http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3reg/forms.html. Forging medical certificates or making dubious and disprovable claims of illness is a serious matter and will be treated as an instance of academic dishonesty. Medical forms will be collected and reviewed to ensure that those legitimately ill are accommodated fairly. The student must provide official medical evidence proving that events beyond his/her control prevented the submission of the assignment on the given due date. There is no penalty, and the late work is accepted until the length of time the evidence warrants. Please contact Prof. Jones at the earliest opportunity should you find yourself in this situation. Students who miss the term test will be assigned a mark of zero for that test unless they can document a compelling reason for missing it. Students in that position must submit a written request within one week of the missed test to Prof. Jones with appropriate medical documentation. If the request is accepted, a take home makeup test will be scheduled based on the term test and graded based on the same median of the test. Take home tests should not be written in any way to interfere with final exams at UTM. Class Schedule Jan. 4 - Introduction to course Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 1, 20 Jan. 11 – People, Activities, Context and Technology Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 2, 3 Jan. 18 – Cognitive Psychology of Users Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 5, 15 Jan. 25 – Simple User Interaction (Personal Inspiration Narrative Due – 10%) Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapter 6, 15 Feb. 1 - Qualitative Research Methods Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 18, 19 Feb. 8 – Quantitative Research Methods (Activity/Task Analysis Due – 10%) Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 20, 21 Break Feb. 22 – Complex User Interaction Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 7 Mar. 1 – Scenarios and Requirements (Proposal and Ideation Due – 10%) Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 8,9 Mar. 8 - Prototypes and Evaluation Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 11, 12 Mar. 15 – Special Topics: CSCW (Scenarios and requirements due - 5%; last day for feedback – 5%) Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 29, 30 Mar. 22 - Course Wrap-up: Final Presentation for Project (15%) – Last day to submit lab reports (assigned weekly for weekly completion – 15% in total) Mar. 29 – Final Test (25%) – last day for community building (5%)
CCT333H5S
Winter 2010
Imagining the Audience in a Wired World
Synopsis
This course proposes that the design of technological artifacts is best informed by attention to the actions and requirements of the end-user and their surroundings.
Students will learn various techniques of understanding user needs requirements and apply this knowledge to real world situations. By the end of this course, students will have worked in groups to analyze and propose design alternatives of a technological artifact of their choosing.
Professors
Prof. Michael Jones
Office: J321
Email: michael.jones5@sheridanc.on.ca
Phone: (905) 845-9430 x 5555
Office Hours: Monday 3-4pm , on request
Prof. Elizabeth Littlejohn
Office: S319
Email: elizabeth.littlejohn@sheridanc.on.ca
Phone: (905) 845-9430 x 8798
Available during lab sessions (Mondays 6-9pm), and on request
We are both readily accessible by email, and will attempt to answer any questions electronically as rapidly as possible. That noted, do try to give a 24-48 hour window for responses, especially over the weekend.
Main Text
Benyon, D., Turner, P. & Turner, S. (2005). Designing Interactive Systems: People, Activities, Context and Technologies. Harlow, UK: Pearson Educational
Times/Locations
Lecture: Monday 1:00-3:00pm , Sheridan J102
Labs: Monday 4:00-7:00pm, Sheridan J316
Unless otherwise noted, lectures focus on course material and will involve some discussion. It is expected that students will arrive prepared to discuss relevant course material for the class, including but not limited to the assigned readings for the class.
Labs will be reserved for individual and/or group work on course assignments, particularl the design case study analysis. We encourage dialogue and provide one-on-one assistance on any conceptual or technical questions that are relevant to your projects as required.
Assignment Structure
Further details regarding assignment requirements will be released and discussed as the course progresses.
1. Personal Inspiration Narrative (Jan. 25 – 10%)
Based on the personal narratives in Sherry Turkle’s Falling for Science (discussed in lecture and labs) write your own personal (2-3 page) story of your own technological “eureka” moment. This story should be a compelling personal story of when you discovered larger principles of design and technology issues. While it can be inspired by CCT courses, it shouldn’t be just a story of something learned in class, but rather something a bit more personal and profound than something you simply learned in class.
2. Activity Charts and Task Analysis (Feb. 8 - 10%)
Based on the textbook concepts of activity charts and hierarchical task analysis, you will create an activity chart of a particular job, dissect one particularly problematic task using hierarchical task analysis, and create a new task analysis model of a revised task model that improves on the existing task.
Given the requirements, you will need to have access to many specific details of the job – so it’s probably should be something you have done or presently do and can gain access to detailed internal information.
Further information and support towards this task will be provided in lab.
3. Case Study Lab Reports – (ongoing, ending March 22 – 15%)
In labs, we will examine and discuss a series of case studies relevant to user-centered design challenges. Cases will be selected from the online support material for Bill Moggridge’s text Designing Interactions (http://www.designinginteractions.com/) and other online sources. Each case study will be presented online and come with discussion questions for your consideration. Discussion question answers will be due on the course wiki the following week.
4. Feedback and Community Building (regular contributions based on deadlines, feedback due March 15, community building due March 29 - 10%)
This course will be using Wikispaces to foster collaborative investigation on issues of relevance in this course.
There are two components to this assignment: a) providing feedback and critique of the final group assignment (5%) There will be multiple opportunities to provide feedback, advice and guidance to your colleagues to facilitate iterative development on these assignments. Since feedback is obviously only worthwhile if provided in a timely manner, online feedback will be due a week before the final project presentations (March 23).
Also included is community building and maintenance (5%). Wikis depend on continual effort by community writers to create a sustainable and active intellectual space. Our class Wiki is no exception, and this effort will be rewarded accordingly. This will conclude on the final day of classes in the spring term (Thursday April 1) but early and often editing is worth considerably more. .
5. Sustainable Technology Design Project– (completed March 22 -30%)
The final deliverable of the course is a group project (3-4 people) involving analysis and redesign of a technological artifact related to issues of sustainability. There are many possible avenues of investigation – during lab, we will work with project groups to help formulate a viable project. The only requirement is that the artifact in question must involve an analysis of based on research on sustainability issues.
There are three interim deadlines to structure progress in this assignment.
a) Proposal and Ideation (March 1 – 10%)
b) Scenarios and Requirements (Mar. 15 – 5%)
c) Revised Design – Presentation and Documentation (Mar. 22 – 15%)
6. Final Test – (March 29 - 25%)
There will be one term test in this course, held during the last lecture period. This test will cover all assigned readings and lab material, and will privilege application of course concepts vs. simple regurgitation of facts, dates, or authors. Specific content covered and question structures will be discussed later in the semester as part of exam review.
Important Policy Notes
Students should familiarize themselves with Senate Policy described in the
UTM Calendar: http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/regcal/
Academic Honesty
Students are expected to be informed about plagiarism and familiar with the Faculty Rules and Regulations, Code of Behavior on Academic Matters and Code of Student Conduct (see UTM Calendar), which state your rights, your duties and provide all the details on grading regulations.
Academic honesty is a serious matter and will be treated accordingly. The UTM calendar summarizes UTM policy on p. 25. Violations of academic honesty include:
• Using unauthorized aids on a test (e.g., “cheat sheets”)
• Looking at someone else’s answers on a test
• Plagiarism (representing or submitting someone else’s words or work as your
own)
• Making up sources or facts for an essay or report
• Falsifying official documents or grades
• Submitting the same essay or report in more than one course without permission
• Impersonating another person at an exam or test, or having someone impersonate you
How Not to Plagiarize by Margaret Procter is an excellent primer on what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. You are responsible for creating material that conforms to this level of citation, and thus are strongly encouraged to read it. Ignorance of these basic fundamentals is no excuse. http://www.utoronto.ca/ota/issues/plagsep.html
Access to Learning
The University accommodates students with disabilities who have registered with the AccessAbility Resource Centre and Sheridan College’s Disability Services centre. Please let us know in advance if you will require any accommodation on these grounds. (2009-2010 UTM Calendar Section 6.2 AccessAbility Resource Centre)."
Due Dates and Lateness
For both individual and group assignments, you must submit assignments on the specified due dates. Make sure you are aware of due dates. Computer glitches are not valid excuses for a late assignment – make sure you back up your work and save it to multiple locations (e.g., USB keychain drives, email copies to yourself and others, etc.)
You may submit late work the following day before 4 p.m., but the assignment will receive a 5% late penalty in fairness to those who have completed their work on time.
Work submitted later than the following day with no explanation will not be accepted unless accompanied by a valid University of Toronto Medical Certificate. The certificate is available at: http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3reg/forms.html.
Forging medical certificates or making dubious and disprovable claims of illness is a serious matter and will be treated as an instance of academic dishonesty. Medical forms will be collected and reviewed to ensure that those legitimately ill are accommodated fairly.
The student must provide official medical evidence proving that events beyond his/her control prevented the submission of the assignment on the given due date. There is no penalty, and the late work is accepted until the length of time the evidence warrants. Please contact Prof. Jones at the earliest opportunity should you find yourself in this situation.
Students who miss the term test will be assigned a mark of zero for that test unless they can document a compelling reason for missing it. Students in that position must submit a written request within one week of the missed test to Prof. Jones with appropriate medical documentation. If the request is accepted, a take home makeup test will be scheduled based on the term test and graded based on the same median of the test. Take home tests should not be written in any way to interfere with final exams at UTM.
Class Schedule
Jan. 4 - Introduction to course
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 1, 20
Jan. 11 – People, Activities, Context and Technology
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 2, 3
Jan. 18 – Cognitive Psychology of Users
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 5, 15
Jan. 25 – Simple User Interaction (Personal Inspiration Narrative Due – 10%)
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapter 6, 15
Feb. 1 - Qualitative Research Methods
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 18, 19
Feb. 8 – Quantitative Research Methods (Activity/Task Analysis Due – 10%)
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 20, 21
Break
Feb. 22 – Complex User Interaction
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 7
Mar. 1 – Scenarios and Requirements (Proposal and Ideation Due – 10%)
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 8,9
Mar. 8 - Prototypes and Evaluation
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 11, 12
Mar. 15 – Special Topics: CSCW (Scenarios and requirements due - 5%; last day for feedback – 5%)
Benyon, Turner and Turner, Chapters 29, 30
Mar. 22 - Course Wrap-up: Final Presentation for Project (15%) – Last day to submit lab reports (assigned weekly for weekly completion – 15% in total)
Mar. 29 – Final Test (25%) – last day for community building (5%)